A Dance With Dragons Review

George R.R. Martin at Mysterious Galaxy book signing
July 24, 2011

It is with some sadness that I review A Dance With Dragons knowing that it was only just released and I will have to wait for the next installment in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. For any long-time fans of the series, this one has been a bit of a wait, a little over 5 years, since A Feast for Crows was released. I can say that the book was worth the wait, thank you Mr. Martin.

A Dance With Dragons, the fifth book in A Song of Ice and Fire, is in some ways the second half of A Feast for Crows as well as its sequel. A little over half of the book is dedicated to the characters and story lines that were relatively absent from A Feast for Crows due to decisions made by the author and his editors to help get book four out to readers back in 2005. Together they cover all the myriad of characters in A Song of Ice and Fire and extend the story along the winding path from the first scene of A Game of Thrones to the ultimately conclusion of the series.

I have only read A Song of Ice and Fire once. Rather than re-read A Feast For Crows, I went to Tor.com’s posting that lists where everybody is before A Dance With Dragons begins. This helped bring the high points for key characters into focus before I began reading the book.

I won’t go into details about the plot as this is intended to be a spoiler-free review.  If you want spoilers, you can go here. Otherwise, the thing I enjoyed in the book was the opportunity to immerse myself in a wonderfully crafted world that feels broad and rich. You get a sense of just how large the world is and the depth of the history as well. The thing about the story that will stick with me is that bad things happen to just about anyone.

All in all, I highly recommend A Song of Ice and Fire and give A Dance With Dragons 4 Mick Happies. It is a good book and a strong addition to the overall series. It doesn’t feel as complete as some of the earlier books due to the splitting of storylines with A Feast For Crows, but that is a minor issue overall. If you haven’t read any of the series, pick up A Game Of Thrones and get started. Once you are all caught up, you can wait with the rest of us for book six and look forward to season 2 of A Game of Thrones on HBO and hopefully a new Dunk and Egg novella in the meantime.